The Negative and Positive Effects of Social Media on Education by McKenna

The Negative and Positive Effects of Social Media on Education by McKenna - March 2022 Scholarship Essay

Social media has reshaped our whole entire world and society. Everybody knows everything with one click. Teenagers find information from tik tok, instagram, snapchat and twitter. To many people, social media can be very negative. It gives cyberbullying a platform and creates negative self images and unrealistic expectations in society. But social media can also inspire creativity and imagination. It opens a whole new door of ways we learn and live. It sparks collaboration and communication among different platforms. Social media has impacted the way we learn by enhancing collaboration and opening up opportunities, but also can become addicting and reduce learning and research capability.
Social media has opened up many new doors that lead to collaboration and creativity. It inspires imagination and gives students a platform to share their ideas. It gives people a new way of marketing and advertising. Social media allows creativity and marketing to go hand in hand. It also can create distractions. Instead of doing homework, students will scroll through instagram or tik tok. They will talk to friends on snapchat instead of writing their english essay.
Social media has many negatives surrounding its impact on the way we learn. The biggest negative impact is addiction. Teenagers are addicted to social media and it puts their education on the back burner. In their minds, social media is more important than education. It creates a distracted and unmotivated student. Another negative is that it creates unrealistic expectations. It can spark negative self image in students and teens. Seeing a “highlight reel” of someone’s life through social media can make them feel like they aren't doing enough or aren't happy enough. Social media makes people;s lives look absolutely perfect. Social media can also increase anxiety and depression. Research shows that, “most users wished Instagram ‘had given them better control of what they saw and helped them connect with people who had had a similar experience’ and ‘1 in 3 teen girls blame Instagram for making their body image issues and problematic social media use worse’ and users were more likely to think that ‘Instagram made problematic use worse, followed by social comparison, body image, FOMO (fear of missing out), sleep issues, SSI, and anxiety.’” (“The Positive and Negative Impact of Social Media on Students”). Social media creates these unrealistic mindsets in students which puts their education on the last list of what they prioritize. By increasing mental health disorders, it affects a students willingness and motivation to learn.
Social media also impacts learning positively. It sparks creativity in the classroom. Students are able to connect with peers through different platforms. They are able to talk to other students and ask for help. They are able to create new relationships and friendships. Students can connect with each other on another level. It also sparks empathy and kindness which can translate to the classroom with their peers and teachers. They also develop critical thinking skills through social media. It makes students do their own research and find their own voice. They read articles with concepts written by real life people. They are able to understand the information on a different and deeper level.
With social media impacting every way of our society, it is important to analyze how it affects students and how they learn. Even though social media has negative impacts, I believe the positive outweighs the negatives. Social media inspires creativity in the classroom, provides platforms where they can form connections and sparks critical thinking skills. It gives students a new tool that they learn through.

Work Cited
“The Positive and Negative Impact of Social Media on Students.” Netsweeper, 7 October 2021, https://www.netsweeper.com/blog/2021/10/07/the-positive-and-negative-impact-of-social-media-on-students/. Accessed 10 March 2022.